By Jun Ji-hye
A senior North Korean official has indicated that the Stalinist state could allow a visit by an outside investigator to inspect human rights conditions there.
Voice of America (VOA) reported on Tuesday that Jang Il-hun, North Korea’s deputy U.N. ambassador in New York, said regarding the issue that “it is a subject for discussion as long as the matter is handled in a positive manner.”
Jang made the comment during an exclusive interview with VOA during which he spoke about continuing concerns about Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program, human rights, and American citizens that are detained in the North.
During a rare interview, Jang made an accusation that Washington is attempting to mastermind international criticism of the military regime’s human rights record in order to launch a smear campaign against its political system.
Jang, who serves as Pyongyang’s point man for talks with Washington, warned that the North could review its policy toward the United States completely and will continue with its nuclear program, if the U.S. continues to press it on the issue of human rights.
Jang was quoted as saying that the North has already declared itself to be nuclear-armed state in its constitution and adopted a new policy to expand nuclear weapons.
“If America continues to press us on the human rights issue, we have no option but to review our policy toward America completely,” Jang told the interview, without elaborating.
The remark was an apparent complaint about moves, which Jang claims have been made by the U.S. and a number of other nations, to refer the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to the International Criminal Court (ICC). But it is the European Union and Japan that are pushing for the U.N. Security Council to refer the North’s human rights issues to the ICC.
With regard to the possibility of the release of three Americans detained in the secretive state, Jang said, “it is a matter of enforcing law,” indicating that his nation does not regard the matter as a humanitarian issue.
Among the three, the North has released Jeffrey Edward Fowle, who had been detained in the North beginning in April, after he was accused of leaving a Bible in a hotel, according to the U.S. government Tuesday.
The VOA, based in Washington D.C., said that the 20-minute interview was conducted earlier this week in New York shortly after Jang’s participation in a seminar hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).
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